THQ: IPs Auctioned. Current Developments: Homeworld has gone to Gearbox

[Dr. Homem]

From Jason Rubin's twitter.

 

 

Despite all the madness that must be surrounding his life right now, the guy at least still has a sense of humor. Gotta like that.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Dr. Homem

[Rinzler]

Now I know next to nothing about how these kinds of arrangements work but apparently Platinum Games may have some interest in acquiring Darksiders:

The courts have approved the auction results which portioned up THQ's development assets, but one studio and the franchise that put it on the map were notably absent: Vigil Games and Darksiders. It's a long shot, but some murmurs suggest Platinum Games may not let that be the end of their story.

Yesterday, THQ confirmed Vigil received no bids in the auction, and that
its employees will be laid off. THQ will continue to seek buyers for
its unsold assets as the Chapter 11 process continues, meaning the
license is still up for grabs, and will likely go at a fire-sale price
if any interested buyers emerge.

Speak of the developer and he shall appear. Platinum Games' executive director and producer Atsushi Inaba tweeted his interest in such a prospect yesterday, as translated by Kotaku:

"In THQ's studio and IP selling off auction, Darksiders is unsold? [We] wanna buy it...on the cheap..."

Cool to see Inaba's interest, though of course it could just be an idle notion. But add in this tweet from Platinum Games writer JP Kellams to Haydn Dalton, Darksiders I and II lead designer, after Dalton pined for making a four-player co-op Darksiders III.

Vigil Games lead combat designer Ben Cureton expressed immediate interest in the idea.

An interesting picture emerges. Before we let our imaginations run wild
with thoughts of Platinum buying the property, hiring up a team of Vigil
veterans, and letting the horsemen ride again, let's remember there are
a lot of ifs here: Platinum would have to actually acquire the license,
for starters, and Inaba made it clear price would be a strong factor in
the decision.

Reality aside, do you think Platinum Games would make a good home for the franchise?

http://www.gamesradar.com/platinum-games-courting-darksiders-ex-vigil-employees/

[Dr. Homem]

Retro Studios picks up Vigil employees (plus Junction Point and BioWare)

Crytek's new Austin studio could be a second chance for Vigil

 

More Vigil employees have found jobs. I'm calling it now: Retro's next game is gonna be pretty good. You heard it here first.

[Badnik Mechanic]

An extract from a very large interview. Jason Rubin on why THQ collapsed.

 

Certain analysts and industry commentators are already suggesting THQ never stood a chance. In an industry that’s enduring a painful transition away from the triple-A, boxed game model, mid-tier publishers
are the ones that will ultimately get squeezed out. THQ is just the first big victim.

Except, not everyone agrees with that view. Including THQ president Jason Rubin, who was parachuted into the company in March 2012 in a last ditch attempt to rescue the ailing publisher.

“I think it is incorrect to attribute THQ's predicament with overall changes in the industry,”
he tells MCV. [Rubin, like the rest of THQ’s staff, was left redundant last week as the firm went bankrupt.]

“To be sure, all triple-A publishers have been under pressure, but THQ had every chance to survive had it not made massive mistakes.

“Unfortunately, the mistakes that were made long before I joined, like the incredible losses attached to uDraw, massive wasted capital in the unpublished MMO that was cancelled, sticking with children's and casual
titles far after mobile and tablets had killed the business, bad, late, or otherwise inferior titles like Homefront, and a generally haphazard and inefficient approach to deal making, left the company with too much negative hanging on its books.

“THQ had to be restructured to survive, and unfortunately, the restructuring ended up in an asset sale rather than an
acquisition. There are certainly things to be said about challenges in the mid-tier triple-A publishing business, but I don't think that conflating it with THQ's experience is helpful.”

...

“I think that luck plays a role in success and failure, but THQ's decisions and execution were the major
reason for its failure,” he argues.

 

“It would be a cop out to say that bad luck was the predominant force. Could Homefront have caught a nerve and sold 10m copies? It's possible I guess, but probably not without better production. And it's hard to attribute a cancelled MMO to bad luck. That was simply a bad decision in a sea of bad decisions.”

 

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-collapse-of-thq-the-full-story

[Carbo]

THQ IPs now up for auction

http://kotaku.com/5987190/thq-now-selling-off-darksiders-homeworld-red-faction-and-anything-else-of-value

After the big auction for its top-shelf intellectual property and game studios last month, the bones of former publishing giant THQ have announced that the company's remaining franchises are now to be sold as part of a "court-approved sales process."

The series up for grabs include Darksiders, Homeworld, Red Faction and Destroy All Humans!

Final bids for the properties are due on April 15. THQ says it has already received over "100 expressions of interest" regarding "various titles" still left in its vaults.

There will be six items in total for sale, four properties available individually and two "bundle" deals, one for internal properties, the other for licensed IP.

Darksiders, Red Faction, Homeworld and MX will be sold separately. Big Beach Sports, Destroy All Humans!, Summoner and "more" are included in the internal bundle, while Marvel Super Hero, Supreme Commander, Worms and "more" make up the licensed pack.

[Candescence]

I'm personally most interested in who gets Homeworld. Then again, if anyone actually wanted it, it would be for a purpose other than not using it, otherwise they wouldn't buy it.

[Doctor MK]

Come on, somebody please pick up Darksiders...!

 

*crosses fingers*

[Meow]

I don't have much money because I am p.much broke and have loans to pay, but I'll bid 100 dollars on Darksiders!!! :V

 

But in all seriousness I really hope it gets picked up, I'd love to see it continue so bad.

[ArtFenix]

I'll be the third to be oping someone would get Darksiders. It'd be such a shame if the series ended like this.. There HAS to be the third installment or maybe even more!

I hear Platinum Games are interested in buying the IP. Well, if they will, I think it'll be in the great hands.

[Gabz Girl]

So sad that yet another big videogame company closes down. =( At least most of the studios have gone to some great developers and are in safe hands.

[Patticus]

Everything in the upcoming auction:

 

Lot 1: Red Faction

 

    Red Faction

    Red Faction Armageddon

    Red Faction 2

    Red Faction: Guerrilla

 

Lot 2: Homeworld

 

    Homeworld

    Homeworld 2

 

Lot 3: MX

 

    MX Alive

    MX vs ATV Untamed

    MX Superfly featuring Ricky Carmichael

    MX vs. ATV Alive Tournament

    MX Unleashed

    MX vs. ATV Unleashed

    MX vs ATV Reflex

    MX vs. ATV: On The Edge

 

Lot 4: Darksiders

 

    Darksiders

    Darksiders 2

 

Lot 5: Other Owned Software

 

    All Star Cheer Squad

    Elements of Destruction

    All Star Cheer Squad 2

    Fantastic Pets

    All Star Karate

    Frontlines: Fuel of War

    Baja: Edge of Control

    Full Spectrum Warrior 1

    Full Spectrum Warrior 2: Ten Hammers

    Battle of the Bands

    Beat City

    Juiced

    Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

    Big Beach Sports

    Big Beach Sports 2

    Lock's Quest: Construction Combat

    Big Family Games

    Neighborhood Games

    Crawler

    Pax Imperia

    de Blob

    de Blob 2

    Stuntman: Ignition

    Summoner

    Summoner 2

    Deadly Creatures

    Deep Six

    Terranium

    Destroy All Humans!

    Destroy All Humans! 2

    Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed

    Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon

    The Outfit

    Titan Quest

    Titan Quest: Immortal Throne

    uDraw

    Dood's Big Adventure

    World of Zoo

    Drawn to Life

    Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter

 

Lot 6: Licensed Software

 

    Costume Quest

    Stacking

    Scripps Spelling Bee (Scripps)

    Daniel X (SueJack)

    Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House

    Deepak Chopra's Leela (Curious Holdings)

    Fancy Nancy: Tea Party Time! (Harper Collins)

    Supreme Commander

    Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

    Jeopardy

    Jeopardy 2

    The Biggest Loser

    Journey to the Center of the Earth

    Truth or Lies

    Let's Ride Best of Breed

    Vampire Legends: Power of Three (dtp)

    Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat

    Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet

    Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet 2

    Wheel of Fortune

    Wheel of Fortune 2

    World of Zoo

    Nancy Drew: The Hidden Staircase

    Worms 2

    Worms Battle Islands

    Worms Open Warfare

    Worms: A Space Oddity

    Worms: Open Warfare 2 (Team 17)

    Nexuiz

    Paws & Claws Marine Rescue

    Paws & Claws Pampered Pets Resort 3D

    PurrPals 2

    Rio

    You Don't Know Jack (Jellyvision)

    Rocket Riot

    Screwjumper (Frozen Codebase)

Some nice fucker had better sort out the Homeworld IP. I want Homeworld 3, damnit.

[Blue Blood]

You know what? I hope somebody picks up the license to "de Blob". I adore that series. THQ didn't own the IP, so I don't know how it all works. But I'd want to see another title at least. And I can't wait to see everyone rushing to buy out uDraw... 

[Patticus]

de Blob would be a great fit for the Wii U, so I hope that Ubisoft or Nintendo snaps that one up quick sharp.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Come on Sega... pick up Red Faction... then we can watch that series die all over again through no advertisement.

[Patticus]

I'd be surprised if Volition itself doesn't try and snag some of its own IP.

[Blacklightning]

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that uDraw is on that list? Who would be stupid enough to buy that out now after all the grief it's given them, and despite how redundant it'll be in the face of the WiiU and PS4 pads?

[Candescence]

Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that uDraw is on that list? Who would be stupid enough to buy that out now after all the grief it's given them, and despite how redundant it'll be in the face of the WiiU and PS4 pads?

Well, I can see someone capitalizing on the software aspect with the WiiU pad, at least.

 

Granted, that would kinda end up being redundant if Colours! (for those not in the know, it's an art app that was originally a DS homebrew app, before it was ported to iOS and then to 3DS as Colours!3D) is ported to the console, along with Art Academy.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Masaru Daimon

[Badnik Mechanic]

So today... I bought a U-Draw tablet.

 

Toys R Us are selling them brand new for £9.99 so I figured why not, and the PS3 version of the tablet can work with PC's too so it seemed like a good deal.

 

I've not played it yet, but taking it out of the box, you begin to see just how THQ lost so much money on this thing. The packaging is so over the top it's like unboxing an Ipad or some other high end electronic product. The whole unit was covered in that plastic which usually sticks to the screen of phones/ipods to prevent scratching in the box.

 

Outside of that is that dust sheet material which a lot of electronic products come in.

 

The box itself has tons of compartments and extra bits of cardboard to keep the unit secure.

 

But the device itself. It's surprising well made, at least it feels it. The only cheap looking thing about it is the cable which attaches the stylus to the tablet, it's blue, thick and short.

 

But one aspect of the design which I really like yet illustrates just how much money went into this thing. The tablet connects to the PS3 via a USB dongle. This is located inside the battery pack, it has it's own compartment within the batteries, and it's not loose either, it's very well secured into place.

 

It even has an on/off switch, which again is an added extra cost which shouldn't be needed for something like this... it's a videogame accessory, you're either using it or you're not.

 

But all of that stuff? It's overkill for a product like this, remember these things were going for the price of normal games, you wouldn't expect this sort of thing unless you were buying a specialist tablet.

 

It's great that they did all this, but considering what this ultimately was, an accessory for a console, and for a very specialist game, it's complete overkill, it must have been such a huge extra cost on top of the development and creation of these things. Not saying it would have helped, but it does kinda give you an idea that there wasn't much thinking going on at THQ with this thing.

 

I would have expected this kind of packaging and design with something like an iPod or a mobile phone, not a console controller. Don't get me wrong, it's great that they did all this stuff, but the cost must have been huge.

 

I've not tested it yet, so for all I know it might be utter crap. But when you consider just how much money must have been put into the packaging and presentation of this thing alone, THQ really wasn't thinking with this thing.

[Patticus]

Good news, everybody! It seems that Darksiders might not be dead yet after all...
 

Crytek has confirmed it will make a bid for the Darksiders IP when it comes up at auction on 1st April.
 
Many former Vigil employees are housed at Crytek USA now. Vigil, remember, was the studio that created Darksiders.
 
Tweeted Crytek USA boss David Adams: "Going to bid on Darksiders IP. Put 7 years of heart and soul into that franchise, and I think it belongs at home with its creators."
 
Destructoid confirmed this with Vigil co-founder and now Crytek USA principal designer Ryan Stefanelli, who said: "When the Darksiders IP goes up for auction, Crytek will be bidding for it."

 
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-28-crytek-confirms-it-will-bid-on-darksiders-ip-at-auction
 
Best of luck to them! I really hope they get it, and maybe, just maybe, they can start working on another Darksiders game at some point in the not-too-distant future.

[Doctor MK]

I second Patticus' thoughts - I really hope someone snaps up the Darksiders franchise soon, as it has a lot of potential and it would be a shame to see it fizzle it when there's at least two more installments that could be made out of it. I for one want to see Darksiders III focus on Fury, because she has a fiery whip that could make for some interesting gameplay and give Bayonetta a run for her money as most badass apocalyptic action heroine. Also, bewbs.

[Carbo]

The Lots consisting of THQ Legacy IPs have been auctioned off. We will start knowing who's gotten what soon.

Already we're starting up with a shocking twist: Homeworld has gone to Gearbox.

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/1029/homeworld-acquisition-and-plans/

 

Gearbox Software has prevailed as the highest bidder in the acquisition of the Homeworld franchise from THQ. Brian Martel, Gearbox Software's Chief Creative Officer, has great love and respect for Relic's brilliant, fun and innovative game and personally spearheaded the acquisition.

Brian intends as first priority to direct Gearbox's interest to preserve and assemble the purest form of the original acclaimed and beloved games, Homeworld and Homeworld 2, with the intent of making them accessible on today's leading digital platforms.

Please visit the Gearbox Software Forums to share with us and Brian what you think should be done with Homeworld moving forward. And, please try to get our attention if you have capability and interest to join the effort in developing or enabling Homeworld's future.

This is just out of nowhere. I mean, Gearbox?

Here are the Lots that were being auctioned.

[Your Vest Friend]

RIP Homeworld, then?

[Candescence]

> Homeworld has gone to Gearbox

 

WELL FUCK.

 

Gearbox lost all of my respect thanks to the Colonial Marines catastrophe for a variety of reasons. While chances are they'll actually do something with the license, they'd have to do a lot of work to convince me that whatever projects related to the IP that they have in store is worth anyone's attention.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Shirou Emiya

[Patticus]

R.I.P. Homeworld.

 

I imagine that they'll be taking a leaf out of Dust 514's book, and will probably turn it into another shitty FPS.

[Candescence]

R.I.P. Homeworld.

 

I imagine that they'll be taking a leaf out of Dust 514's book, and will probably turn it into another shitty FPS.

Yeah, there's literally no evidence they can make anything aside from a standard run of the mill shooter. While nobody could likely salvage Duke Nukem Forever, Colonial Marines was a massive disaster, and Borderlands is seriously overrated.

 

If the next Homeworld game isn't a fully-3D space RTS as it should be, I'm flipping a goddamn table. If it's an FPS, fuck everything.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Shirou Emiya